


Life and Life Again

by namio



Series: Cyclical [2]
Category: AR∀GO ロンドン市警特殊犯罪捜査官 | Arago
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Gen, i'm sorry anyone who doesn't know her, my two fav young old men, said original female character is in fact selena, who is only referred to
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-04-02 08:20:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4053109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/namio/pseuds/namio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They weren't this cynical before. Perhaps souls change after each life, after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life and Life Again

“You seem oddly aggressive now.”

The low-lit pub was filled with lazy commotion this late at night. Everyone seemed to talk, with quite a few shouting, but the atmosphere was still calm and it was almost strange to think of how long it remained so far. The drunk were never predictable. Shrugging, Seth took a sip of his tea.

English breakfast. It seemed that either Oz never changed, or he was trying to appease him.

“You’ve only known me for two days,” Seth replied instead, putting his cup down. His eyes challenged Oz’s with the spark of defiance that burned decades ago, with the spark of anger that lit only several years ago. Oz, on the other hand, didn’t seem to change. There was only inner decay reflected in his face-- like a recycled soul breaking down at last, like chemical bonds that took millennia to fade.

It wasn’t that his own soul was stronger-- the world just never seemed to appease him, with its cycle of rise and fall.

“Yeah,” Oz said, taking a gulp of his own tea. “Two days, give or take five years.”

Perhaps longer, even. They knew each other in the lives before that, too.

“Is it going to be another plea of help?” Seth said as Oz’s cup made a small click on the table. Oz only tilted his head in vague interest, in that nonchalant way Seth learned to copy in the last life. It infuriated most. He loved using it on people like Arago.

“Well.” There was familiarity in how Oz shrugged. “I’m not going to save face. Yes, it is. I’m awfully tired, really.”

“Already?”

“Not everyone are as strong as you,” Oz replied. “I’m tired. I want this to be over. If it works this time, then I’ll leave you alone, hopefully forever.”

Seth held back a snort as he leaned back. As if Things were that easy. If it were, it would have worked two lifetimes ago. It did not. And now here they were. Here they sat, talking about the same old thing again. He could almost recall the exact conversation, actually. Oz had more rigour. Seth had less hate.

They were both fools.

“And what do I get for my help?” Seth said instead, letting his thoughts dissipate like ink tainting water. “It’s not a small favour to ask, you know.”

Oz laughed-- a harsh, rough laugh that sandpapered his feelings, exposing the pity that hid under the heartlessness. Life was such a long thing for him, Seth supposed. He lived since Dagda walked the earth. He’d been here since revolutions.

“You want money? I’ll give you money.”

He needed the money. He’d grown attached to this life’s mother, who was kind and who now lied sick, helpless. If he did nothing, she would die. It had been so long since he had parents who did not die mere years since his new cycle. He might as well cherish them, as they would not come back to accompany him again.

“I’ll take it.”

Perhaps if he was less jaded, if he was less bleary-eyed as he stared at this unchanging earth, he would feel a touch of compassion. But they were both tired. For him, the journey would never end. For Oz, the journey never seemed to end.

Maybe this time it will.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure if I'll ever make an actual main fic for this. But anyone remember what newspaper Rupert found?


End file.
